


voice of summer

by kyungsoo_sama (orphan_account)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance, School, Teachers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-30 00:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8512546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/kyungsoo_sama
Summary: Why is he so rude? Goddamn. If I wasn’t a teacher I’d….





	

**Author's Note:**

> please read extended note. it's very important. you might be the one to whom this fic is dedicated.  
> also on [AFF](http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1192736/voice-of-summer-exo-xiuhan-xiuchen) and [LJ.](http://kyungsoo-sama.livejournal.com/8924.html)

*

It was too bright. The light was too bright. The doors and walls were _too_ pastel to stare at; the windows did not block his tormentor, the sunlight, and the cartoon sunflowers on the pastel green walls around him were mocking his blindness. There was too much sunlight streaming through the windows. Closing his eyes had no effect as the heat of the sunlight burnt his eyes still. _Lord, save me,_ he cried.

Minseok’s reverie was broken when ice-cold water poured down his nostrils. He immediately woke up, sneezed and coughed, and conjured up sixty-three ways to murder his roommate, Luhan. They were old friends, who still loved each other, but with each passing day, his patience with Luhan was wearing out and it wouldn’t be long before he was going to kick him out of their shared apartment. It wasn’t like he couldn’t pay the entire rent all by himself (It was.) Good riddance. And his nose was burning too.

“MINNIEEEEEEE!!!”

_Cough, cough._

“Minnie, come on, wake up! Today’s your school’s annual day! I wouldn’t have bothered to wake you up at all.... _you_ were the one who had asked me to wake you up at four. What an _ungodly_ hour, honestly, even my laboratory doesn’t demand such timings from me….Phew. I remember that one time, when the senior researcher in our department made me come to the lab by six in the morning to show some stupid high-schoolers how Hydrochloric acid is prepared in diffused sunlight….Aaaack, Kim Minseok, don’t you nod off on me, get up before I pour the next glass down your nostrils……GEDDUP, WILL YA, KIM MINSEOK!”

“Buzz off before I murder you, Lu, please.” Minseok said, groggily, rubbing his eyes.

It was going to be a long day ahead. Minseok loved kids, that being the main reason why he was a third-grade class teacher. He absolutely loved his little critters: Kyungsoo, with his cute pouts when he asked questions; Yifan, with his constant noise and pseudo-warmongering, and Jongin, with his dreamy eyes who was caught dozing off more than once, in his class.  He might have quit this job, if it didn’t push his limits. However, today, he didn’t think he could return home sane, if he had to spend twelve hours of his day monitoring hyperactive and excited eight year olds, and reuniting them with their proud(but worried) parents after their show was over.

He stood up, drank the rest of the water at his bedside table and went about his morning routines. He dressed himself in a smart navy-blue suit, white shirt and deep burgundy tie, and finally styled up his hair with a bit of gel. This was most definitely not his go-to outfit if he had to spend an entire day chasing over-energetic pixies, but he had no choice. The school had issued a strict instruction to the teachers: to dress in formals in order to give off a great impression. After all, he worked in Cheonsa International School, where all the children were not born with just a silver spoon in their mouths, but also with the entire silverware set floating behind their cute little heads like halos.

Luhan worked in the same institution too, but in the degree-level Chemistry department, as a Lab Instructor for the college students. He wasn’t much older than his students, and he got them to note down observations and inferences in their lab records by batting his long eyelashes and flashing his bright eyes at them, giving them cute half-smiles if they got everything right. Yes, even the male students fell for it.

But today, Minseok was going to work alone because Luhan had taken sick leave for no reason, and he had more troubles than just managing his spirited honeybunches and riding a motorbike alone on the empty roads at five in the sun-less morning.

 

*

And that trouble goes by the name of Kim Jongdae, or Chen, as he liked to think of him in his mind. And specifically, Minseok thinks that Chen, er, _Kim Jongdae_ , in a _suit_ , would completely throw him off his fucking rocker.

As he mindlessly rode through the memorized routes to Cheonsa International on those empty roads, he thought of Chen, smiling his _absolutely angelic_ smile, curling those cute upturned corners of his mouth; laughing, like the sweet sound of a gurgling stream in a quiet forest; and singing, _Oh God his singing,_ that voice which invoked summer, was enough to make angels float down to earth…...

Jongdae was the new music teacher for the primary school department who had just joined the school a few months back. The old one had run away with her boyfriend to France, and Jongdae luckily got the job without much difficulty because not only was he well-educated and affable, but also because the primary department’s annual day was coming up in four months and the school desperately needed someone to train their kids.

Minseok reached the school’s campus in twenty minutes. The teachers had to report at five-thirty in order to set up the stage and the backstage in the school’s auditorium, had to be ready to welcome the children at seven and the parents at around ten. The show would then continue till a little after noon, and the show would be concluded with food and refreshments for all(yay).

The sun was yet to come up and the wide campus felt eerily expansive in the pitch dark. The trees at his side swayed softly in the not-yet-morning breeze, whispering age-old secrets that awakened Minseok’s childhood fears.

He started walking a tad faster as he heard quickening steps behind him, which were getting closer…

_Tap. Tap._

….and closer

_Tap. Tap. Tap_

……and closer.

“Good morning, Minseok-sshi!” said a summery voice which dispelled all his childhood ghosts and brought a faint red to Minseok’s slightly chubby cheeks.

“Good morning, Che-, _er_ , I mean, Jongdae-sshi!”

Wasn’t he flustered. Jongdae was the definition of perfect. It was a wonder how Minseok did not faint in an embarrassing manner, looking at Jongdae in his all-black suit, and styled hair. _Is he wearing a bit of eyeliner?_

_Thank the Lord for keeping Minseok alive to this day. He can now die a happy man._

“Long day ahead?”

Minseok looked up hastily. Was the angel talking to him? _Him?_

“Yes. As much as I love kids, today is gonna be my funeral. I can’t run behind kids in this suit. I am most definitely going to suffocate and die.” _And seeing you in the all-black suit with eyeliner isn’t helping. I might die now, you never know._

 

*

**_Four months ago. Or 122 days ago, to be precise._ **

The bell for lunch rang. Just as the kids were impatient to get out of class, Minseok was tingling with anticipation to calm his grumbling stomach with Luhan’s treat. It wasn’t his fault that Liverpool lost against Barcelona last night, and a bet’s a bet, friends, lovers, _roommates_ or not.

The kids broke out of the pastel prison as soon as Minseok said “Dismissed!” and he hurriedly picked up all their assignments. He calmed his running to brisk-walking and would have made it to the canteen in record time if not for that asshole who _just had_ to bump into him. And _just had_ to make him drop all the assignments onto the floor of the corridor.

“Oh my _GOD!_ Can’t you see where you’re going?”

Minseok didn’t even look up to see the owner of this summery voice, so high that it was just a centimeter away from being an alto. _Said person_ did not help Minseok gather up his papers. _Rude ass bitch._ Minseok was about to wordlessly bound away to pester Luhan for pasta alfredo, when _Said person_ held his wrist.

Minseok looked up with the angry intensity of a food-deprived foodie, which he was. Intending to burn holes through his head, he started coldly, “What do you want fro-

Honestly, he would have completed the sentence if _Said person_ wasn’t the slim-and-trim version of Channing Tatum. He did an extremely slow once-over of the man’s face: wavy brown bangs covering his forehead, bright starry eyes looking intensely into his, high cheekbones rivaling the Himalayas, and cutely upturned corners of shapely lips. _Was this man chiselled by God himself?_

“What do you want from me?” Minseok repeated, a bit rudely.

Slim-and-trim Channing Tatum dropped his wrist.

“Take me to the admin office.”

“Huh?” Minseok scoffed, “Follow me.” Intensity met coldness.

He walked across the corridor and climbed the steps. Channing Tatum meekly followed. As they were reaching a landing, Minseok asked pointedly, “Do you mind me asking what you’re here for?” It was not every day when hot rude dudes visited the school.

“Ah. I’m Kim Jongdae. I’m here for an interview.” he curtly replied.

“What?! An interview in the middle of the year?- Wait- So _you’re_ the one who got into the final interview for a music teacher?” Ah, now he understands. _He’s just being rude to prepare for one hour of constant ass-kissing, popularly known as a ‘job interview’._ Minseok would have been in an equally pissed mood, if not more.

“Yes, that would be me…Maybe it’s too soon, but may I know your name?”

They had reached the door of the admin office.

“I’m Kim Minseok, Primary Department. Maybe it isn’t too soon-

“That’s enough.” Jongdae pushed open the door and stalked off into the admin office.

Minseok was nonplussed. _Wow, what an amazingly polite man,_ he said to himself.

Nevertheless, Minseok couldn’t help but imagine those starry eyes and Himalayan cheekbones. _What’s ‘star’ in Chinese again?_

Minseok heard the voice of Princy Joonma, er, _Principal Kim Joonmyun_ drilling the candidate. _Hmm,_ _Channing answers quite confidently_ , Minseok said to himself.

“BRO WHERE WERE YOU I SEARCHED _ALL_ OVER THE CANTE- wait, Minnie, are you talking to yourself?” Luhan bounded towards him like a soccer player.

“Huh?” Minseok answered _very intelligently indeed._

“Minnie-”

“Would you stop calling me that?” _IT IS SO FUCKING ANNOYING. COULD YOU JUST STUFF YOUR MINNIE’S DOWN YOUR THIN THROAT AND CHOKE ON IT?_

Faking concern, Luhan said: “Look, Minnie, why are you standing in front of Joonma’s office and acting like a lunatic? Did the wait for a pasta alfredo make you go bananas? Don’t worry, Minnie, I’ll get you your pas-

“Stop calling me that, Lu, and I think the principal can hear you. We’re outside his damn door!”

“Wha-- It isn’t like Joonma doesn’t know his nickname, okay? And no, I’ll keep calling you **_MINNIEEE_ ** until you call me “Han”, which is significantly cooler and _manlier_ than ‘Lu.’”

“WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SCREAM THAT _GODFORSAKEN_ NAME IN THE CORRIDOR?” Minseok whispered, rather loudly.

“Oh, I’m so sorry for going against your wishes, **MINNIEEE!** ”

Minseok wondered why Luhan has not been hit upside the head with a book. Or maybe with a meat tenderizer. What about a grand piano? Or the _entire_ Asian continent?

“It’s because I’m too pretty.”

“What?”

“You were thinking why I’m not murdered yet. Right? I’m too precious. Smart. Pretty.”

“And you’re the one who calls himself _manly_.”

“Hey, ‘pretty’ was just a _figure of speech_ . Just that _and nothing more._ I doubt that you’re actually an English teacher, Minnie.”

“Well then, ‘manly’ is also just a _figure of speech_ , Lu. Just that _and nothing more_ . Nothing like the real _pretty_ you.”

The bell signalling the end of the lunch break rang.

“Well, looks like you’re pasta alfredo treat is just a _figure of speech_ after all. Bye, Minnie!”

Minseok felt betrayed. If only he had just bolted and left _Channing_ to his own devices, he wouldn’t have missed lunch. An old question popped up.

Luhan was about to round the turn of the corridor, when Minseok grabbed his arm and asked him, like his life depended on it-“What’s ‘s _tar’_ in Chinese, Lu?”

“What? It’s ‘Chen’. Why?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing” Minseok smiled to himself. **_Chen_ ** _ning Tatum, huh? Whoa._

*

**_Three months ago. Or 91 days, to be precise._ **

Minseok was returning from the canteen. Pesky Lu had somehow managed to make him pay for their lunch, again. It was not that Minseok was stingy. It was just that he hated how Luhan wouldn’t be straightforward about it. _Hey, bro, pay for my lunch too, will ya?_ wasn’t a sentence too hard to pronounce. Then again, he would have sweet-talked Luhan into going back the Dutch way, so, Luhan’s usage of _slightly_ underhand methods was justifiable. It wasn’t that Luhan wasn’t generous. He had eventually bought some pasta alfredo for him, from a nice Italian place, and proceeding to get him drunk. And Minseok may or may not have divulged some information relating to how he wanted to lick chocolate sauce off the abs of a certain _Chenning Tatum_.

He was walking through the corridors of the high school department when he suddenly heard his Chen’s voice emanating from a classroom. He walked over and peered in through the door which was slightly ajar.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I am Kim Jongdae.”

 _Don’t you mean ‘Kim JongBAE’? Or maybe RUDE ASS Chen?_ **_Chen_ ** _ning Tatum?_

“I will be taking Music Theory starting from today-

“Because the last teacher ran away to _France!_ With her boyfriend!” said the snarky new student, Baekhyun, who somehow managed to become popular with his singing and his flirtatious-almost-suggestive behaviour with everyone.

“Uhh-

“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t abandon us like that, sir.” Said a noodle-like blond boy, quite earnestly. _Sehun, is it? Would you all just let Chen get on with the class? Shut up, you peabrained minions of Satan!_

“Sir, I need to get to my class. You’re _kiiinda_ in my way and I’d appreciate it if you could move aside.” Said a deep voice from behind, quite uncharacteristic for a mere high-schooler.

Minseok turned to face a tall gangly redhead with never-ending arms, and legs, sticking-out ears and an awkward bent posture. At least the kid was good-looking. And a tad scary with his ocean-wide smile and too-straight teeth.

As soon as Minseok moved aside, the tall Yoda pushed open the door, exposed Minseok to having eavesdropped during the class, and _positively bellowed,_ “Excuse me, sir, may I come in?” _Minseok froze._

“You’re very early, young man.”

“Sorry, sir, I was held up at the restrooms.”

“Come in…and do you have something for me, Minseok-sshi?” Jongdae said.

“Uh…I was just passing by. Good afternoon!” He bolted. Usain Bolt would have been jealous.

Chanyeol took his seat next to Baekhyun and whispered to his brother-from-another-mother, “Dude, that man, was _unabashedly brazenly blatantly positively_ **_Ogling_ ** at our teacher!”

“What?! No shit, Sherlock. Everybody saw him!”

“Oh. Well then, FUCK YOU, Watson.” _Shit, that got too loud._

“You, tall redhead-

“It’s Chanyeol, sir.”

“Whatever. Do you have something to share with the class?”

“What?!-No, sir.”

“Then shut up and listen to me.”

Loud _ooh’s_ and _aah’s_ and _whoa’s_ echo collectively in the class. It wasn’t everyday you met a teacher who got _so comfortable_ on their first class. _Hmm, Sassy New Teacher. I like him_ , Baekhyun chuckled to himself.

*

Minseok was getting back to the staff room after _drilling_ gerunds into impressionable eight-year old minds, what he liked to call as _coaching, teaching, schooling_ , etc. Honestly, could the education system be more fake? He made them fill out worksheets, to convert almost 150 verbs into their ‘–ing’ form.

He had the rest of the day free, with no more classes. And then his lovely weekend. However, he had not anticipated the amount of work he had just dumped on himself, namely, correcting ‘begining’ to ‘beginNing’, and ‘arrangeing’ to ‘arranging’. Minseok deserves it. One shouldn’t torture innocent children.

He was almost at the door when a bony but strong hand gripped his wrist from behind. _This grip seems familiar...._ he thought as he whipped around.

 _Oh, didn’t see ya right there, Himalayan cheekbones!_ “Good afternoon, Jongdae-sshi!”

Jongdae dropped the wrist to stare at his watch. “It’s still 11:51. Technically, Good morning, Minseok-sshi!”

_How the fuck does one discern time like that with an analog watch?! Ooh, is that a Breguet I see? Wow. Too rich to be a music teacher. Way too rich._

Minseok decided he stared too long at the watch and classified his behaviour as rude. He just looked back up.

Jongdae continued, “I think you need to know one thing. All my children knew that you were peering into my class last Thursday.”

Oh. Shit.

Shit. _Shit._ Shit. _Shit._ Shit. Shit. _Shit_. Shit. _Shit_. **Shit.** ** _Shit._** Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck, fuck, fuck and bugger, bugger, bugger, buggedy, buggedy, buggedy, fuck, fuck, arse, balls, balls, fuckedy, shit, shit, fuck and willy, willy, shit and fuck and... tits.

Minseok’s escape had thus been recorded and stored for posterity in the minds of children, the children’s children, wives, granddaughters and sons, uncles, aunts and midwives, and most importantly in the mind of his _crush._                                                                                               

_WHAT? No! This is a misunderstanding! I do not have any form of attraction towards a rude and good-for-nothing-but-music asshole! Who just so happened to have nice cheekbones! And an expensive watch! And a nice voice! And an intriguing personality!_

Oh.

*

Minseok ended up taking Luhan out to dinner that day, and ranting to him about Kim Jongdae. _Intriguing personality? My ass. Rude as fuck with an expensive watch to boot. Luhan, you know what? Don’t ever, ever, ever touch his cheeks. You’ll probably cut your finger._ And so Luhan bore the brunt of a drunk Minseok’s ranting. Luhan just sighed. Why did it have to be that Chenning Tatum guy who made sure Minseok never looked his way. Luhan proceeded to drown himself in beer too, and the two friends stumbled back home, drunk to their noses, one of them wishing they weren’t just that. _Friends._

Minseok woke up to the worst headache of his life. And around forty assignments to grade. He wasn’t surprised. Aspirin cleared it for him. But he was surprised when he saw Luhan on the floor of the living room, near the couch, with his head between his knees. He was asleep, and still in yesterday’s dress shirt and slacks. Minseok gently woke him, and saw dried up tears down Luhan’s white cheeks. Aspirin could never solve that.

“Luhan, what happened?”

“Hmmpf?” Luhan was still groggy.

“Shall I get you an Aspirin? Why were you crying?”

“Hm? Crying? I don’t know. I don’t really remember yesterday night.” Luhan lied. He stood up and washed his face in the bathroom.

“Hey Luhan, we gotta take out the trash for recycling today.” Minseok shouted from the kitchen.

“Huh?”

“Actually, don’t mind. You rest. I’ll take it out.”

“Luhan went over to the kitchen. “Don’t lie to me, Minseok. You also have the headache. Let me help.” Luhan took one of the bags, and put on his flip-flops, and walked out the door in his bed hair. Minseok followed him out, with more bags, not looking very different, really.

They threw out the trash, walked back up the steps, and got into the apartment. Minseok locked the door. Little did they notice the two eyes which followed them all the way back, and the disappointment in them.

“Did you know there’s a new guy in apartment 203? I heard it from Mrs. Jang.” Luhan asked Minseok as they gingerly sipped green tea for their headaches.

“You and that Grandma should totally be roomies, you know. You spend way too much time with her.” Minseok replied.

“What? Haha. I would have. If only she didn’t have the smell of kimchi in her entire apartment. And that asshole grandson of hers who disturbs our Saturday noon talks.”

“Still. You’ll eventually get used to the kimchi.”

“You really want me out of the apartment _that bad?”_ The disappointment in Luhan’s voice went unnoticed.

“No comment.” Minseok said, flatly.

“Anyways, I was planning to go with her and give the new guy a welcome basket or something. I’m feeling too sick today. You do it.”

“I did _not_ sign up for this.”

“Come on, Minnie. I can’t let her down, after I got her hopes up!”

“I have forty assignments to grade!”

“I have a flipping fever!”

“Okay, Luhan. I’m doing this for Jang, not for you.. Have you _ever_ seen me welcoming a newbie?”

“Try it once. Experts say that _that’s_ how you make friends.” Luhan deadpanned.

“New friends? You’re burden enough. I absolutely do not need more lazy-asses in my life.”

“Hey! Lazy-ass? I did the dishes yesterday!” Luhan was indignant.

“Thank God you did. Don’t think that I didn’t see some broken crockery in the trash.”

“That was a mistake. Mistakes happen all the time. I think you need to now go give him the welcome basket or something, Minseok. It’s in my bureau. Go.”

“You owe me one.”

*

He really didn’t mean to be so rude. He really didn’t.

It’s just that when people look too cute for their own good, Jongdae needs a defense. Like that time when he met him at the corridor. Minseok looked so cute. And the dress shirt hugged his body so well, he swore he saw abs. He couldn’t help but be rude in exchange for the absolute rudeness of a person who _dares to be hot, appear in front of him, be extremely polite, and NOT letting him touch that body inappropriately?! The rudeness of it all!_ Jongdae was quite nervous during his first class for the high-school students, who unnerved him with their blank, but calculative stares, and hushed whispers. And Minseok had the _goddamn nerve_ to be there too. It wasn’t until the hour got over,that a short, and innocent looking kid, with a mischievous glint in his eye, told him that Minseok was outside his class the whole time. Until he ran away, that is. _Was Baekhyun his name? Bastard had the audacity to give him false hope._

False hope? Yes, the false hope he was harbouring, that Minseok was also interested in him. Jongdae was also derailed by Minseok’s all-pervading politeness. So he did what he did best. He pushed the other’s buttons. Kept him on edge.

Jongdae knew that a pretty flower’s nectar is taken away by a bee sooner or later. But that didn’t prepare him for seeing Minseok, as _his neighbour_ at his new rented condo, with his cute boyfriend, taking out the trash, looking all homey, domestic and lovey-dovey. His boyfriend’s fond stare which was _obviously_ undressing Minseok, could not be mistaken for anything else.

Jongdae trudged around his apartment with such thoughts, centered around Minseok, and his slight heartbreak at seeing his little crush already taken. His apartment was still not ready, half his stuff was still in the boxes. _Okay, let’s start with that big one now. Let’s finish unpacking today._

He’d barely taken off the tape when he heard the doorbell ring. Was the universe so averse to letting him settle in his new place? First, it was the problematic movers. Second, it was the almost-got-arrested-for-breaking-and-entering, when he tried to unlock someone else’s door, when he forgot his own unit’s number. Now, it was his doorbell.

Without bothering to look at the intercom, he opened the door with an exasperated, “What?”

The grandma gave him a chilling once-over. Though dressed in a harmless calico dress with a walking stick, she was already stabbing daggers in his face.

Oh, and then there was Minseok, staring at him, wide-eyed and nonplussed at his rudeness. _What’s he holding? A welcome basket?_

“Oh. I’m really sorry. I thought it was one of those noisy movers _again,_ or the landlord. I was having a bad day. I’m sorry for being so rude. Please come in.”

The grandma scrutinized his apartment as soon as she entered, and introduced herself as Mrs. Jang. Minseok just hurriedly gave him the welcome basket and looked around the apartment with those cute wide curious hamster eyes. They sat on the sofa, while Jongdae made some coffee for them.

Minseok walked around his apartment staring at the plain walls, and unopened boxes.

“Do you, um, need me to help you with all this?” Minseok gestured at all the taped boxes.

“Um, I’d love the extra hand, but I think”, Jongdae continued, handing him a mug of coffee, “You might be busy the second you enter your apartment.” Images of Minseok’s boyfriend in his bed hair flashed violently in his head.

“Uh….actually, yes. I _am_ busy. I have forty assignments to grade. Gerunds and stuff.” Minseok shook his head, disappointed.

_Well, I’d meant something else, but I think you’re just hiding the “sexy time with bf” from me._

Jongdae sipped gingerly at his searing hot coffee. “I’m going to start unpacking now. Thanks for the, uh, _welcome basket_? Is that what it’s called?”

“Yes.” Minseok laughed softly. “Luhan bought it, actually. He isn’t feeling too well today, and he asked me to give it to you. He’s the ‘social’ one amongst the two of us.”

 _Two of Us?_  “Oh.” The disappointment in Jongdae’s voice was palpable.

*

Minseok returned to the apartment to face a drunk Luhan. Nothing remarkable about that, but this was a _Drunk Shitfaced Luhan With Plans._

Luhan found Minseok’s secret stash of beer, a whole six-pack. _How dare he._ He took it out of the fridge, and started gulping it down in revenge, hangover headache be damned. Memories of yesterday’s debauchery came to his mind. His heart hurt hearing Minseok’s constant yapping about Kim Jongdae, Chenning Tatum, or whatever.

And it wasn’t long before he had downed at least three cans of Heineken.

Mumbling something about “getting fresh air” to a shocked Minseok, he walked out of the apartment.

“Apartment number 203….” Luhan mumbled incoherently to himself, “So that means, second floor, third apartment to the left of the staircase.” Luhan groggily walked down the stairs. Though drunk, he still was a health freak. Who had a weakness for alcohol. Everything else that is ingested is hundred-percent healthy, Luhan promised himself.

He finally stood face-to-face with a plywood door with brass numbering, just like his own door, except, this one had a big bold _203_ on its front.

He rung the bell. Three seconds passed. No response. He rung the bell again. And knocked frantically, like his life depended on it.

The door suddenly opened and he faced a tired looking man, famous high cheekbones and all. He looked quite done with Luhan, and his chiselled features twisted slightly at Luhan’s alcoholic stench. “Who are you, and what do you want?” The tiredness in his voice was palpable.

Luhan pushed the man inside, and poked the other man’s chest. “Do you know what a lucky man you are? Do you have any idea?” Luhan’s drunkenness only increased his ferocity and force. The man stumbled backward.

“Uhh-

“Aren’t you Kim Jongdae? Or Chenning Tatum? Or whatever?”

“Yes. But- um….What? Chenning who?” The man looked perplexed.

“Yeah. That’s what he calls you.” Luhan said in a resigned manner. “He likes you _so_ much.” Luhan spread his arms wide.

“Yes. Um, thank you. But who? Who calls m- Ow!”

Luhan poked his chest again. “Who? Minseok, of course! Yesterday was _so_ painful. Can you imagine your own crush- _your very own crush_ …..babbling his mouth away about another man? Can you? That’s what I endured for Minseok’s sake. Because I’m his _best friend_ . I would’ve been something more, if I’d stepped up my game. But then, _you_ walked in. So, I just want you to know….” Luhan trailed off. He was sniffling, not really succeeding in hiding the tears at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill over and make a mess.

“Hey…” The man placed a comforting arm on his shoulder. Luhan pushed him away a bit, and continued, “So, you should know, you’re the luckiest man in this world, and you have to promise me that you will ask him out yourself. I’m giving you time until…..” Luhan trailed off again. He wiped his tears, already fallen over, and now slowly drying over his white cheeks, for a second time this week.

The man soothingly patted his shoulder again. “Until?”

Luhan asserted himself. “Until…the school’s annual day. That’s almost three whole months. If you don’t step up first, because I know Minseok never will, I swear I will murder you.” Luhan was so intense that Jongdae did a double-take. “Okay…I’ll see….”

“What? You’ll ‘ _see’?_ You’ll _see_ your dead body in the mortuary soon, if you just _‘see’_.” Luhan walked off, a little tired, but still firm. He left behind a positively frightened man. Luhan could be mighty scary when he wanted to, goddammit.

*

**_Present._ **

“Long day ahead?” Jongdae asked Minseok, in the dark morning, while the trees whispered eerily, _Look, there goes Jongdae. If he chickens out this time around, he’s headed for the gallows tomorrow!_

 _What? I heard Luhan owns a gun, though._ Yet another tree whispered.

 _My brethren,_ a tree whispered, in an exasperated manner, _How could you all be so confoundedly gormless? Luhan needs neither the gallows, nor a gun. He controls those huge vats of poisonous vitriol in those dingy basements. It would take hardly a droplet to consume Jongdae’s life._

Jongdae shut out the stupid voices in his head, and his overactive imagination. It was behaving like one of those kids in Minseok’s class.

“Yes. As much as I love kids, today is gonna be my funeral. I can’t run behind kids in this suit. I am most definitely going to suffocate and die.”

He looked at Minseok staring at his suit, and at his eyes. Specifically, at the waterline.

“What are you staring at?” Jongdae asked, teasingly.

“Huh?” Minseok looked away and caught himself. “Uh, nothing. I was just wondering.”

“Wondering? About what, may I ask?” Jongdae decided to push those buttons again.

“It’s really nothing, man.” Minseok said, again.

_What is it that you so stubbornly refuse to reveal?_

“Come on, humour me, Minseok. Tell me what’s in that little head of yours.” Jongdae tried again.

Minseok turned around, looking resolute. “Okay. Actually, there are two things.”

“Oh?”

“First: is that eyeliner?” Minseok gave a small laugh.

Jongdae was a bit embarrassed. _Why would no one understand that eyeliner significantly contributes to a person’s overall beauty?_

“As much as I’d love to say, that it is my long eyelashes, alas, you found me out. It is eyeliner.”

Minseok looked serious now. “It looks great on you.” He gave Jongdae that unnervingly slow once-over, for a second time. His gaze seemed to drinking him in slowly, taking in his styled hair, his eyes, his lips, his neck, his chest, his abs, down to his slacks and dress shoes. “Second: I hope this is okay, don’t slap me.” Minseok grabbed his neck. _Wow. Luhan, you’re wrong. He does step up first._ He stared at his lips, like he wanted to ravage them. And Jongdae wasn’t going to stop him, but _school rules._

Jongdae shook himself, back to reality. “Hey, um, how about we escape for a few minutes, huh?” Jongdae sounded about as needy as a gasping fish in a desert.

Minseok raised an eyebrow, authoritatively. “Get on my bike.”

And they rode off into the disappearing dark, into the lazy sun, slowly blinking his eyes open……

 

Fin.

 

**Author's Note:**

> this work was supposed to part of the xiuchenxoxo_0to100 fest, but i could not get in touch with the mod since more than 5 months. So I've decided to post it myself. To mod, you are one of the most supportive mods out there, thank you for your support. to prompter, i loved your prompt, it was a beautiful writing experience in my early days in the ficdom. please, please find me. to reader, here you go! much love. important links - [xiuchenxoxo_0to100 fest](http://xiuchenxoxo.livejournal.com) and [their prompt archive, since this is prompt #69, the music teacher jongdae prompt](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OyNZKkF2qkiZCvmZEJwxD9paP3rEsLJLe6-wIrUTeZ8/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=727050746)


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